Postgame Quotes
Nov. 20, 2009
Postgame quotes
Kansas 94, Central Arkansas 44
Nov. 19, 2009
Kansas Head Coach Bill Self
On tonight’s game:
“I thought we did some good things. I thought for the most part our defense was pretty good. Rebounding stunk. I thought we moved the ball and we took care of the basketball better. I thought we did some good things. We got a chance to get everybody in the game and play minutes where they were out there for at least a considerable amount of time so they could get a little rhythm. If we’re going to have to play a game after getting back at 3:30 or 4 in the morning on Wednesday and the quick turn around and that game against Memphis was pretty draining, it was probably good that it was a game like this.”
On what he wanted to address after the Memphis game:
“Trusting each other and sharing the ball better. Understanding where our shots are going to come from. Understanding that a marginal shot on the first or second side isn’t as good as an open shot on the third and fourth side and being able to exercise patience. In the Memphis game, there were 17 wasted possessions in the first half. Seventeen wasted possessions where we gave ourselves no chance to score in the first half. Either bad shots or playing too fast, and you’re going to turn the ball over when you’re playing against athletes, but we tried to thread a needle. We just didn’t play. That was the first time that our young kids, we’re counting on Tyshawn (Taylor), Marcus (Morris) and Markieff (Morris) being veterans. That was the first time some of those guys that felt that kind of heat, Elijah (Johnson), Xavier (Henry), they’ve never felt anything like that. So we’ll be better for it. I thought we played poorly offensively except for a couple of individuals. Defensively I thought we tried real hard. It’s a good lesson for us that we beat a good team on a neutral floor when we stunk, only because we guarded and we rebounded. So I take that as a positive coming out of there.”
On Oakland:
“Oakland’s pretty good. If I’m not mistaken, they won their league last year and they had North Dakota State beat in the championship game, or that probably would have been our opponent in the first round. They’re good and it will be a good test for us and we need to get better. Fortunately for us we’ve got some time to tighten a few things up and we’ve got plenty to tighten up, but I thought tonight was OK.”
Freshman Forward Thomas Robinson
On his and the team’s rebounding:
“Well, we get ten-twenty-two’s tomorrow since we got out-rebounded. Coach just told us as a team that we need to go out there and rebound better. I think about it while I’m out there – just doing what he says.”
On how he felt and if he did anything different as opposed to last game:
“Tonight I felt good. I knew leading up to the Memphis game that I have stuff to work on. Memphis had a great offense; I needed to play better defensively.”
On where his motor comes from:
“I just go out there and play hard. Now that I see that my motor helps me rebound; I’m trying to transfer it to defense now. It’s just natural – I never really gave it a name, it’s just with me in college.”
On if he was surprised after looking at the box score to see that Kansas got out-rebounded:
“No, I think it was pretty obvious that we got out-rebounded. We let them get a couple in the first half. They got a lot of offensive rebounds; so I wasn’t surprised, but we know we need to work on that.”
Freshman Guard C.J. Henry:
On where he sees himself fitting into the rotation:
“It’s going to take time. I think I’ll definitely be in the rotation – I just need to work hard every day, and get my reps in, that is a something since I haven’t played in four years; I understand that. I’ve got to get used to playing with everybody. Because that’s the main thing that this team needs is chemistry, and to win, you need to have chemistry.”
On the emotions of playing his first game:
“It was exciting. Just exciting to get to know I was going to get to play tonight. My dad played here – I thought about that when they were playing the video before the game. I was thinking that I get to actually play where my dad played. With all the greats that have played here, it was exciting. That’s really the only word I have to describe it, exciting. I wasn’t really nervous, maybe a little anxious, but I was just excited.”
On what his dad told him about KU:
“He used to talk about the fans, how the town is. He really liked the gym when he was here. Mostly he talked about who he played under. I think it was Larry Brown and Ted Owens, and then (John) Calipari was here, he just talked about the three of them. How they did things, how hard they worked, and the guys he played with.”
On when the point hit him that he was playing where his dad did:
“Before the game, that’s what I was thinking about. When they were showing the video, I was thinking ‘Wow, my dad played here, my brother played here, my mom played here, my aunt played here.’ It was crazy that we all played here. It’s indescribable for your whole family to be able to do one thing.”
Central Arkansas Head Coach Rand Chappell
On playing Kansas:
“We came in talking about wanting to play some of the big programs at the big venues. We have been to Connecticut, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, and I think that this experience was right at the top of the list. I told the kids that some older gentlemen pay thousands of dollars to go to fantasy camp and play somewhere like this. I think that we will take a neat experience from here. It is hard to say this getting beat as badly as we did, but I thought that our guys competed pretty hard, made some positive plays here and there, and hopefully took away some experience that makes them a better player and us a better team.”
On the knock out blow:
“I think for us tonight it was our inability to score points. I came in and told them at halftime that defensively we didn’t play too bad; you just have to get some balls in the basket and shoot the ball naturally. We had a few open looks, and I thought that at times we were shooting to avoid a block instead of shooting to make a basket. I guess that mid first half you start to worry about not competing.”
On the vulnerability of KU after the Memphis game:
“I think that it is our job to dream and if you are in this you only get one shot so you want to dream a little bit. Memphis did a very good job defensively, slowed the game up a bit, and hung around. I guess if we had a game plan today that was it.”
Central Arkansas senior guard Mike Pouncy
On watching KU struggle against Memphis:
“I knew that they were going to come out even tougher after they struggled against Memphis. I knew that their coach was going to get on them and they were going to pressure us even more.”
On playing at Allen Fieldhouse:
“It was exciting for us, a mid-major, to come in here in front of 16,000. It was a cool experience.”
On Kansas:
“They are big on the inside. They share the ball, and they are unselfish. They play like a number one team.”
